


"Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art"

by TheReluctantRealist



Series: Mated Branika - pre-canon AU, compliant [1]
Category: Crescent City Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Angst without a happy ending, Branika (Freeform), F/F, Slow Burn, Werewolf Mates, and they were ROOMMATES, canon compliant ending, oh my god they were roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:41:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheReluctantRealist/pseuds/TheReluctantRealist
Summary: Danika Fendyr walked into her college room only to see her roommate's glorious bottom peek out from under the couch, and before she knew it, she was drawn to her like a moth to a lamp. Bryce Quinlan is just what the newly anointed Prime Apparent of the Valbaran wolves needs to piss off her petty domineering mother even further, for fuck's sake, Danika just wants to vibe.And yet, powers cannot be ignored for long, and when revelations lead to ancient legends being stirred into life, will their hearts survive the fallout?NOTE - This is a pre-canon fic where I attempt to tie in a mated Branika into established canon. Get the tissues ready.
Relationships: Danika Fendyr/Bryce Quinlan
Series: Mated Branika - pre-canon AU, compliant [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718155
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> All characters, events, and places belong to Sarah J Maas.  
> Work title credit to John Keats.

_I love thee with the breath,_

_Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,_

_I shall but love thee better after death._

_\- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, sonnet 43._

She was going to fucking _murder_ Connor. 

It had been 5 hours since he had brought some mirthroot over along with pizza and the two were sat upon the couch in a near catatonic state unable to get up.

Blinking hard, Danika turned to see Connor staring at the clock, his face set in a puzzled expression that made her want to make weird noises in her throat and bare her teeth.

She looked at the clock. 11:42 PM. Her mind struggled to remember why the time was of importance when Nathalie walked in, smirking, with a jug full of water and a bottle of pills.

“Drink up, potheads,” she glanced at Danika, “You need to get ready to meet the Prime.”

Danika blinked a few times before her brain could process the info-dump. Nodding at Nathalie, she opened her mouth as her Third placed a pill on her tongue and helped Danika hold the jug, the cool taste of the water somehow filling her with pleasure.

The high receded a heartbeat later, and Danika swore, getting up to brush away the crumbs from her pajamas while Nathalie turned to Connor and helped him take the pill. He shivered as the pill dissolved and sanity dawned, and snorted.

“By the Urd, that was the best mirthroot I have ever smoked.” Danika glared at him and he shut up quickly, but not before grinning at Nathalie, who simply shook her head.

“Where the fuck did you even get that?” Shit shit shit, she had to meet her grandfather in ten minutes and her hair still smelled like cheap shitty pizza. She opened her closet and began throwing her clothes on the floor, her mood getting worse by the second as she gaped at the lack of formal clothes in her wardrobe.

Connor’s smirk was audible as he retorted, “Ara picked them up for me from the Meat Market.” 

Nathalie frowned, “I must admit, Connor, your choice of partners make me more than a bit concerned.”

“Oh please, she’s funny, she’s cute, she gives great blowj-”

“I thought males were careful about their cocks yet you let a snake have her way with yours.”

Danika ignored their squabble as she scurried deep into the closet to find something, anything, in silver. “Why is everything I own either in black or in grey?” She whined.

“Twelve year-old you bought an _Alchemical Affair_ album once and decided that that was going to be your aesthetic for life,” Nathalie commented drily, and Danika found it hard to scowl.

She found a sequined tunic striped in charcoal and pewter, and from the state of the rest of her clothes, it would have to do. Grabbing a pair of ripped black jeggings and a bra, she was almost inside the shower when it finally struck her.

“LAUGHING! It’s called laughing!”

Shrugging away their confused glances, she closed the door and stripped quickly, patting her hair with a wet towel before braiding it, thanking the Urd for blessing her with straight hair. She had barely clasped her bra when the door swung open and she drawled, “Honestly Nathalie, if you wanted to see my tits you could have just asked.”

“So we do that too, huh? Fucking around with pack members after smoking enough mirthroot to throw a human into a coma, being late for your own birthday, what’s next Danika, a pregnancy scare? A lightseeker overdose? Peeing naked onto the Gate?”

“Don’t give me ideas, woman.” 

She sensed her mother scowling at her back as she threw on her tunic and deigned to ignore it. Sabine was a bitch on her good days and a hag on the rest, and seventeen years of putting up with her petty shit had made Danika pretty immune to her mother’s barbs.

Well, eighteen years. Short of - she checked the clock again - well fuck. Eighteen it is.

She slipped into her jeggings and decided to skip the eyeliner only to face Sabine’s sneer as the woman raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at her choice of outfit.

Danika hated how much that face looked like her own. With cornsilk hair and eyes only a shade darker than her own, Sabine Fendyr was what Danika might look like in a few centuries. If she was permanently constipated, that is.

She rolled her eyes as Sabine grabbed her elbow while walking down the corridor to her grandfather’s office, the French manicure hiding sharp claws.

“Don’t fuck this up.”

‘I know, mother. Unprecedented power level, soon to be Prime Apparent, blah blah.”

Below the belt indeed, yet the flash in the other woman’s eyes was worth it.

Danika’s tests had revealed a power level far above her mother’s, and many whispered that Sabine Fendyr may never become the Prime. The rumours and Danika herself were a constant thorn in Sabine’s side as she feared that she may have to eschew her ambitions if her father chose Danika directly.

Well, too bad.

Danika had zero intentions of being modest if it came to that.

She muted out Sabine as the garden came into view and frowned when she was led straight to it instead of the office.

“Irresponsible brat. Pay attention to what I am saying.”

Sticking out her tongue earned her a sharp hiss and she felt smug. Content. It was her birthday after all.

The garden had been lit up with tiny points of firstlight, the alabaster gazebo in the middle gleaming silver in the pale moonlight. A tacky multicoloured _HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIKA_ banner hung from the centre, its obnoxious glitter ruining the serene effect of the rest of the scene, but Danika grinned at her pack.

Chaotic lawful, the lot of them. Just like her. 

Her grandfather turned to smile at her as she came close and warmth filled her heart. She knelt as he brushed away the bangs from her face and kissed her forehead, his hands trembling, and she suddenly found it hard to swallow.

The clouds parted and the full moon shone in all her brilliance.

Danika froze.

The moonlight was a song in her blood and she shifted, the world thrown into stark clarity in this form. Her ears perked as she heard a howl beckon her, and she ran into the building, ignoring the shouts behind her.

_Where is it? What is it? Where is it?_

The song led her to the Prime’s office, the doors closed for the night. With a push of her massive paws, the doors swung open and Danika sniffed, when her eyes fell on the sword hung on the wall behind the desk, the engravings on its hilt teasing, taunting her.

She shifted and walked behind the desk, peering into the glass. Enchanted by Queen Hecuba herself, the case was impossible to break and opened only to to the will of the Prime.

Unless…

Danika placed her hand on the glass and it vanished, the sword gleaming. She held it upright, marvelling at the fine metalwork, when Sabine screeched and strode in.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?”

She grabbed the hilt before Danika could react, only to hiss as her palm bled.

_The Prime’s sword had cut the Prime Apparent._

Danika knew that her grandfather had witnessed the entire thing. She both anticipated and dreaded his decision. A look at his face told her everything she needed to know.

“I declare Danika Fendyr the owner of the Fendyr’s Sword.” His voice was grave.

Sabine turned to him in a rage, her bloody hands clenched into fists.

“Are you out of your mind?! She is an irresponsible and naughty child who hasn’t made the Drop yet!”

His raised hand shut her up.

“Luna’s will is never untrue. The blade has howled to her on her eighteenth birthday. On a full moon night. This is the way it has to be.”

“But father, you said it belongs to me!”

“Sabine.” Danika watched as her mother flinched at the tone, the wolf in her cowering at the Alpha. “The sword beckons to the worthy wolf, and my wishes are irrelevant.”

Sabine looked like someone had punched her.

The aging wolf turned to her and smiled. “Come here, kid. I am so proud of you.”

Danika smiled as her grandfather hugged her, patting her head. Yet, as she looked over his shoulder, the cold rage in Sabine’s eyes chilled her to the bone despite Prime’s affectionate warmth.


	2. Chapter 1

Bryce Quinlan was bored.

Her mother had started talking to her about the importance of the “next phase” of her life when they left Nidaros; three hours and fifty minutes later, Randall was parking the car near the dormitories of Crescent City University, and Ember Quinlan still had words to say.

“Okay, so your room is,” she flipped through the brochure, frowning, “Ah yes your room is D68, Block 12, East wing. Randall, could you be a darling and check whether we have the identification papers? I will just grab her stuff from the car.”

Bryce sighed as her mother walked away, using the brief silence to take in her surroundings. The sprawling campus of the CCU was a feast for the eyes, with the wide walkways covered with fallen maple and magnolia leaves, a brilliant contrast to the grassy lawns. 

“Huh what’s this? Bryce?”

She turned to see her dad frown at the brochure and walked over to him, groaning as he cocked his eyebrow quizzically.

“When were you going to tell us that you have a room at the _Kappa Kappa Mu_ house?”

“She has a WHAT?” Bryce groaned as her mother snatched the letter from Randall’s hands and crossed her arms on her chest after quickly reading it, her mouth set in a firm line.

“Mom, dad, trust me, I know what I am doing and joining a fraternity is not going to help me. At All.”

“Bryce, you know that fraternity students at the CCU have a 30% higher chance of being placed at campus selection?”

“No, dad, it’s not about that. Campus placements aren’t a thing in my major, first of all, and I would rather mope about alone than become a sorority bitch.”

She found herself meeting her mother’s sharp gaze, their faces so like the other’s. In her late thirties, Ember Quinlan commanded attention with her confident gait and stunning features, and Bryce had noticed how the leopard shifter male getting out of the nearby vehicle had ogled her mother while she leaned into the hatch to remove three suitcases.

“Is he behind this?”

Bryce clenched her jaw. Her biological father was a grade-A asshole, and she didn’t think he gave enough fucks about her to send her a fucking _fraternity_ invite.

“No Mom, it’s just... _Kappa Kappa Mu_ is the Fae fraternity.”

Eyes widening, Ember nodded her agreement and turned to Randall. “Block 12 is the one by the cafeteria, isn’t it? Come on, darling, lets get your room ready.”

_Well, what’s the worst that could happen if I joined the frat?_ Bryce didn’t let herself answer. 

Pensive, Bryce grabbed two suitcases and walked behind her mom, her dad deciding to grab them all some grub from the cafe. The two strode into the nondescript building and a brief lift ride later, she found herself staring at her room. 

For the first time that day, Bryce Quinlan was positively excited.

Crescent City had always been, to her, a painful reminder of the other half of her heritage. She could feel _his_ presence in every corner, and the brisk breeze of the autumn evening did nothing to assuage her anxiety. Yet, seeing the simple dorm room reminded her that her life was changing, and maybe, the change could be fun.

The suite was modest, a plain couch and a table arranged in the hall with a kitchenette nearby, and two doors opened on either side of the balcony, leading to the beds. She followed her mother into one of the rooms as her mother opened the luggage and started to arrange her belongings on the shelves, and suddenly, a thought struck her. “Mom, shouldn’t we wait for the other person?”

“Don’t worry, you have been assigned bed B.”

“Wow. What’s next, will I be assigned a washroom schedule?”

“Well, if you must know, an argument between a malakim and a fae broke out last year regarding the beds and the building burnt down. They have cleaned up their game since - no bunk beds, no choice either.”

Bryce laughed as she sat cross legged on the floor and took out her clothes, arranging them into a neat pile on the bed before smiling fondly at Jelly Jubilee.

“Mom, where are the others?”

The older woman absentmindedly waved her off as she unrolled the mattress and fixed the duvet; the very bright, very blue duvet, into place. “Oh sweetie, I decided to pack the one you loved the most.”

Bryce _hmmph_ ed. 

Pouting, she looked at her mother as the woman carefully fit the pillows and cushions into their cases, and suddenly, she felt rather small. Her mother’s face was beginning to show the signs of her age, and Bryce was reminded of the eternity yawning ahead of her, provided she made the Drop.

The Drop. A deceptively simple name for the process where one might shed their mortality in a march against death, choosing to remain frozen in a point of time instead. Not per se, obviously, but close. 

Bryce’s fae heritage had made her a viable candidate for the Drop, and yet, she wasn’t certain that she wanted to. While it would be rather novel for one to not make the Drop, she certainly didn’t want an official to be her Anchor, and her heart ached painfully at the thought of asking her mother or her dad to be her Anchor. She swallowed, the thought of their fragile and too short lives leaving her feeling rather melancholic. 

_No_ , she decided, _I am not making the Drop._

“Mom, pack the set for me, will you? I will collect them during the winter break.”

*

“Do you guys really have to go?” 

Randall had come over with teriyaki chicken and beef noodles, and after finalising transfer of her bank account from Nidaros to Crescent City, her parents decided to leave for home, and as Bryce inhaled her mother’s scent, she might have cried. Just a little bit.

“Oh sweetie, we will miss you so much.” 

Aaaand she was crying. Sigh.

Her dad ruffled her hair. “You know we do, sweetheart. Your mother will be back in a week or two with some documents and your Starlight Fancy set, yes?”

She nodded, “Yes.”

“And if you get into trouble... well you'll take care of it, I'm sure,” and she giggled as he winked.

  
  


“Take care sweetie! We love you!”

Sighing, she closed the door and went to her wardrobe, choosing to don hot pink shorts and a loose tee for the night. 

Her bed seemed lonesome, and it wasn’t even 9.

Picking up her copy of a mediocre romance between a vamp and a shifter, she sat on the couch cross legged, nibbling at some choco-chip cookies, when her phone slid behind the couch.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” muttering, she knelt down, rootling about in the cramped space, when the door opened with a large bang.

“Hahaha D68, they should have given me D sixty nine instead mmm whatcha sa- Oh.”

_Is it possible for a voice to swagger?_

“Well, hello there.”

Bryce groaned.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so hard to write Bryce Quinlan.


	3. Chapter 2

Danika giggled as the fae legionary hand-cuffed her and confiscated the box of rings she picked up from Madame Marielle’s. Not that she was particularly sad to see them go, the store’s collection of trinkets was particularly overpriced in the Fall/Winter season, not to forget the fact that Marielle Riqueti’s designs were stolen from H.E civilisations.

_ But sure, humans are the incompetent ones in need of control. _

She sniffed the air as the scents of sickly sweet vanilla and old hag hit her, and smirked to herself.

Marielle Riqueti was a svelte leopard shifter, and one of Sabine’s rare friends. Danika had always wondered whether her mother was even capable of having friends, considering how she had to spend all her time being a bitch.

  
  
  


“Officer, I would like to talk to the suspect myself.”

“Ma’am, we recommend that you submit a written statement before that-”

“I don’t give a fuck, officer-”

She sniggered as she saw the legionary cower as Marielle screeched. He seemed like a wolf, but she didn’t trust her eyesight after the party Connor’s girlfriend had thrown. The click of heels on the pavement drew nearer, and Danika smiled at the shocked gasp of the leopard.

“Danika? Sweetie, why did you do this?”

She shrugged.

“I guess I was bored. You don’t have to check my blood, legionary,” she addressed the fae male with the mediwand in his hand,”2 bottles of vodka and 20 grams lightseeker.”

The leopard sighed. “I guess I will have to call Sabine.” She began tapping on her phone when a sleek grey car stopped by them, and Sabine Fendyr stepped out.

“What has she done now? By the Urd, Danika, you were supposed to move to college today, and it’s already 7 PM.”

“Sabine! Thankfully, you’re here, I was about to call my attorney but then I thou-”

“Press charges Marielle.”

The woman had the grace to look shocked. 

Sneering at Danika, her mother turned to the officer,”What is the penalty for being caught?”

“Erm, well ma’am, she hadn’t displaced the property from its original site so I suppose she could be let off with a warning. She’s clearly a juvenile.”

Sabine’s eyes flashed. 

“Don’t worry about that, officer. She turned eighteen a month ago.”

He rubbed his neck and sifted through her file. ‘Well then, I suppose the norm is a month of house arrest and fifty hours of community service, considering her juvenile record.”

“What if she resides in the CCU?”

“That won’t be an issue ma’am. She would have to report to the campus officer everyday, and restrict her movements to within the campus. The anklet will send her location to our Security Cell, and there are cameras everywhere, as you very well know.”

_ Damn, she wasn’t this happy when I shifted for the first time. _ Danika had never seen a mother look so overjoyed at the prospect of her daughter getting penalised. Although, considering her record, she wasn’t that surprised. 

Ah yes, she should be throwing a tantrum.

“WHAT THE FUCK? I didn’t even steal it properly!” She stomped her feet because she felt like it. “This is ridiculous!”

“No Danika. The only ridiculous thing here is your behaviour which is getting way out of hand. When will you learn that your actions have consequences?”

“Obviously not anytime soon”. She sighed as a heavy metal anklet was fixed on her right leg, its weight digging into her tendon. She was frisked by the fae legionary and relished at his scandalised face when she winked at him. He moved to remove her sword from her belt and she dug the heel of her boot into his feet. “Touch my sword and I’ll tear your balls apart with my teeth,”she snarled, baring her fangs.

He gave a push as she was guided into the car, Danika blinking as the haze in her head cleared a bit, becoming more aware of the cool kiss of the metal against her wrists. Sabine sat in the front, chewing off some poor pack leader’s head. Danika honestly wondered whether it was possible for her mother to live through a single day without yelling at someone or the other.

Hag.

The streets whizzed by as she stared out of the windows, sighing as she looked at her handcuffed wrists. She knew that she couldn’t cite her age and escape conviction anymore, and that if she got caught one more time, she could very well be behind bars. And Sabine.

Fuck. 

_ Sabine will become the Prime. _

Danika sobered up at the thought. Sitting up, she nudged the sergeant sitting next to her. 

“Yo, what’s the time, my dude?”

“I am not your dude, girl. And it’s seven thirty-five.”

She leaned forward. “Mom. I don’t have my things yet. And I don’t even know which room I am in.”

“You might have known that if you were sober.”

Damn. She really didn’t have a response to that.

The high receded and anxiety arose in its stead, along with an unfamiliar twinge of shame.

Danika Fendyr was not exactly used to shame. Dicking around for kicks had never made her feel small before, yet the sword seemed to grow heavier against her leg, and she wondered whether her grandfather had been foolhardy to let her claim it. Surely he could have waited a few years more, couldn’t he? He was old, yes, but not  _ that _ old.

If she was being honest with herself, Danika was scared.

Not that she would ever let Sabine know that.

Lost in her thoughts, she was startled when someone rapped on the window and Amelie Ravenscroft’s nasty smirk appeared.

“Damn Danika, what are those?” She opened the door but did not open it fully. Bitch.

“Dirty cop play equipment,” she deadpanned, rolling her eyes. She gritted her teeth trying to push the car door open with her elbow, but with her wrists tied (quite literally), the action was nigh impossible, and sighed before kicking the door open.

Connor came running to catch her as she stumbled out of the car. 

“Hey, are you okay?”

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the drug, but she wanted to cry.

*

The grumpy sergeant had escorted her to the campus legionary station, where after signing a bunch of papers, the handcuffs were unlocked and she was allowed to get back to her room. Sabine had called Connor and Amelie to get Danika’s stuff from Moonwood to the dormitory, and they waited outside the station as she walked out, free again. Somewhat.

She picked up two bags as Connor accompanied her into Block 12, Sabine following them as Amelie returned to Moonwood to get home before her curfew.

“Was it worth it?”

She put on her thinking face. “Nah, not really. You know that Marielle tinkers with the carbon content, right?”

Holding up the box with one hand, Connor grinned as he slipped his other hand into her pocket. Her eyes grew wide.

“A souvenir from your first arrest.”

“It’s a house arrest.”

“Eh, potato potato. You have shackles on, that’s an arrest as far as I am concerned.”

Sabine was waiting on the landing as the two trudged up the stairs, grunting with the weight of the bags and the boxes. Danika wondered what the fuck had she even brought over when the door to her room loomed inti view and she giggled at the number.

Pushing the door open, she grinned at Connor who stood back in the hallway, fingers darting across his phone screen. “HAH D68, they should have given me D sixty nine instead mmm whatcha sa-”

Her eyes fell upon a round butt covered by hot pink shorts with  _ Suck My Ass! _ written across the back, peeking out from behind the couch.

“Oh.”

She grinned as the girl groaned and got up to her feet, her freckled skin flushing. 

“Well hello there. I am Danika Fendyr.”

The girl had rather pretty eyes, Danika noticed.

“Bryce Quinlan. You’re in Bed A, I suppose. Here, let me help you set things up.”

She grabbed a bag from Danika’s hands and gestured for her to follow.

“Damn thanks. I love your hair.”

Bryce smiled, her eyes falling on the sword strapped to Danika’s hip and then to the ankle monitor. She raised her eyebrows and Sabine walked in, even pissier than usual.

‘’For fuck’s sake, Danika. _ Gamma Phi Psi  _ rescinded their invitation after word of your house arrest spread. And now you’re stuck with,” her eyes fell on Bryce and she sneered,”A trashy half-breed.”

Danika Fendyr wondered whether matricide was justifiable as a response to sheer asshattery.

Bryce, to her credit, was unfazed.

“Just saying that I am not the one with a flashy sword and an ankle monitor, so maybe lady, don’t be so judgemental.” She grinned at Danika.

She drawled. “Ignore her, Bryce. She’s put out that you’re not a hot vampire guy.”

“Weird tastes. No judgement from me, though.”

Sabine fumed. Ignoring Bryce, she scowled at Danika.

“Go on. Fuck about with half-breeds and mortals. You could have made your name at  _ Gamma Phi Psi _ , instead you had to fuck up, hadn’t you? Have fun staying at this shithole.”

She stormed out.

Danika sighed in relief.

She winked at Bryce after she was sure that her mother was out of earshot. 

“It isn’t a fuck-up when it’s on purpose, is it?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is how I pictured that fateful day.  
> Tumblr - @countessdankula


End file.
